Peter Tork

Birth Name: Peter Halsten Thorkelson

Place of Birth: Washington, D.C.

Date of Birth: February 13, 1942

Ethnicity:
*Norwegian (paternal grandfather)
*English, some German, Dutch, distant French, 1/128 Scottish, remote Belgian (Walloon) and Norwegian (paternal grandmother)
*Ashkenazi Jewish, Irish (mother)

Family Background: Peter Tork is an American singer, musician, actor, and activist. He is the keyboardist and bass guitarist of the rock band The Monkees. Peter is the son of Virginia Hope (Straus) and Halsten John Thorkelson, and economics professor at the University of Connecticut.

Peter is of little over 1/4 Norwegian, 1/4 Ashkenazi Jewish, and 1/4 Irish ancestry, with the rest being English, German, Dutch, French, Scottish, and Belgian (Walloon).

Peter’s paternal grandfather was Halsten Joseph Berford Thorkelson (the son of Mathias Thorkelson and Marit Eggen). Mathias and Marit were Norwegian immigrants.

Peter’s paternal grandmother was Mary Schuyler Carver (the daughter of Horace Peck Carver and Elizabeth Manning Seymour). Horace was the son of James Herman Carver and Mary Elizabeth Sagendorf/Sagendorph. Elizabeth was the daughter of John Belden Seymour and Elizabeth Thompson. Mary was born in Binghamton, New York. John and Elizabeth were born in Lisle, New York.

Peter’s maternal grandfather was Albert Joseph Straus (the son of Gustav/Gustave Carl Straus and Clementine Kupfer). Gustav was the son of Michael Straus and Rosa/Roeschen Goetz. Clementine was the daughter of Simon Kupfer and Bincher/Pholoppine Straus.

Peter’s maternal grandmother was Catherine A. McGuire (Thomas McGuire and Catherine O’Connor). Thomas and Catherine were Irish immigrants.

Source: Genealogy of Peter Tork –
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=dowfam3&id=I358451

Genealogy of Peter’s great-great-grandmother, Mary Sagandorph – https://familysearch.org/tree/#view=ancestor&section=details&person=MP9J-MWK

Marriage record of Peter’s maternal great-grandparents – https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:24S4-984

Marriage record of Peter’s maternal grandparents – https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:24QR-PFR

Peter’s maternal great-grandparents on the 1920 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MJY1-62H

Peter’s mother, Virginia Straus, on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X4K1-JB6

Photo by Prphotos.com